By Judy Vorfeld If you do much reading, or are in certain professions, you not only come across the expression et al., but know what it means. Et al. used to be used just in the U.S. in legal documents, but for many years it’s been used […]
Read more →The Internet: Homonym Heaven! By Judy Vorfeld Have you ever visited a visually attractive site and then spotted phrases such as, “If your interested in learning more about our Websight, e-mail us,” or “This product comes with an unconditional guarantee. It’s high quality will make you’re life better!”? […]
Read more →By Judy Vorfeld Your and you’re are two of the most commonly misunderstood words in the Wide Wide World. “Your” is the possessive form of the word “you.” It’s used as a modifier before a noun, e.g., “Thanks for your letter.” “Your” means someone owns or has something: your car, […]
Read more →By Judy Vorfeld The Chicago Manual of Style, sixteenth edition (6.9), says, “Periods and commas precede closing quotation marks, whether double or single.” Examples: She said, “I’ll be there soon.” … “When you are finished,” he said, “we’ll leave.” CMS also states that there are several exceptions […]
Read more →By Judy Vorfeld Do you feel okay punctuating possessives until you have to decide on “men’s room,” “mens’ room,” or “mens room?” I have people regularly asking for the answer. Let’s investigate. In this case, we’re talking about attributive nouns, not compounded nouns. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary says an […]
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